There are no easy answers in Bertolt Brecht’s play The Good Woman of Setzuan. Performed at the Lyndall Findley Wortham Theatre by the School of Theatre and Dance and directed by visiting director Kim Weild, the play raises interesting questions about being good versus evil. Is it possible to be good all the time? Does being good mean you have to overlook your own self-interests? Set in the near and post-catastrophic future, the story focuses on prostitute Shen Te (Kristin Green). The only good person the gods can find, she is rewarded with money and told to keep up her good work. She uses this money to open a tobacco shop, which is soon taken over by a family of unwanted guests. Too good to refuse anyone, Shen Te’s shop suffers and it seems she will soon be forced back into prostitution. In an effort to save herself and her shop, Shen Te creates Shui Ta, her "cousin" and male alter ego. Forceful and not above bribes, he removes the parasites, but Shui Ta is not necessarily evil; he simply represents Shen Te’s interests in all that he does. Shen Te also falls in love with the unemployed pilot Yang Sun (Michael Bishop). But Yang Sun is also prepared to use Shen Te and her goodness to get what he wants. He leaves her when she can’t provide him with the money he needs, and Shen Te is heartbroken. To protect herself and her interests, Shen Te finds herself relying on her imaginary cousin more and more. Soon enough, Shen Te "disappears" and is replaced by Shui Ta. However, Shen Te’s disappearance does not go unnoticed by the townspeople. They accuse Shui Ta of murdering Shen Te and take him to court. Not a play for the mindless theatergoer, Weild’s interpretation of The Good Woman of Setzuan encourages the audience to think. The entertainment value relies on the viewers being involved. At one point during the show, the house lights are turned on and Shen Te speaks from the audience. This disruption helps to remove the boundary between audience and performance and forces viewers to become even more involved. The play is entertaining overall and the actors perform their parts well. Wong the Water Seller’s acrobatics at the start of the play provide energy for what has the potential to be a dull beginning. The sparse scaffolding-like set provides endless potential for his monkey-like actions as well as reinforces the poverty-stricken and futuristic, post-catastrophic setting for the play. Weild’s production also mixes song and even some dance into Brecht’s play. Weild collaborated with Two Star Symphony, a local string ensemble that performed its self-composed works on stage and in costume. Its music was very well written and fit the scenes perfectly. A play with many questions and few explicit answers, The Good Woman of Setzuan is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.
Verdict: Good and evil collide in this thought-provoking production.
